Nigeria loses about 1.3% of GDP annually due to poor sanitation

I was driving to work recently and after making my right turn away from the third mainland bridge and heading towards Apapa, as I drove further and about to link the bridge to Apapa, I saw a young man sitting on the bridge’s rail and as I drew closer I observed his trouser was ‘sagged’ (or so I thought) but to my surprise, the reason his trouser was down was because he was actually defecating… ‘openly?’ I asked myself.

I couldn’t help but kept wondering, despite being disgusted at what I saw, how bold he was to be defecating at such a location, in such a manner, in broad day light? So you would think he is just sitting on the rail, not knowing he was dangerously positioned on a major high way and openly defecating right into the water beneath the bridge.

I am sure this doesn’t only happen in that part of Lagos alone; people do it on dry land and definitely several places across Nigeria where open defecation is still being practiced till date. Little wonder we are ranked second among countries practicing open defecation globally.

From statistics available in the 2018 WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH NORM) survey, 24 per cent of the population (47 million people) practice open defecation.

On the 8th November, 2018, President Buhari launched the National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Action Plan and declared a State of Emergency in the sector with a strong statement to end open defecation in the country by 2025. The question is, how feasible is this?

In less than six years to the deadline on open defecation, only 13 out of the 774 Local Government Areas are ODF free. It is obvious we have a long way to go.

Nigeria loses about 1.3% (N455 billion) of GDP annually due to poor sanitation and a third of that cost is as a result of open defecation. Also, more than 100,000 children under five years of age die each year due to diarrhoea; of which 90 percent is directly attributed to unsafe water and sanitation. It is therefore logical to say that open defecation has an economic, social, and health impact on national development.

According to UNICEF, 47 million Nigerians practice open defecation and using the format of the Indian Government to end OD by October 2019, The Federal Ministry of Water Resources in Nigeria has partnered with the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) which was put together by the Indian Government to end Open Defecation in India by October, 2019). This laudable campaign has helped to significantly change the attitude of Indians towards OD and as such, there has been an extensive reduction in the number of people practicing open defecation in India from 550million in 2014 to less than 100million in 2019.

“India built a social movement that involved the participation of everyone in the campaign. It is in this light that the Ministry is launching a website for the Clean Nigeria campaign and making a call to action by all Nigerians.” Former Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu said.

To anyone thinking this is not a crucial issue, you need to know this. Based on empirical study, every naira invested in the water and sanitation sector results in economic benefit ranging from N1,080 to N12,240 ($3 to $34). The gains come through savings in healthcare costs, increased productivity, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the sanitation market. Therefore, we cannot trivialise the issue of cleanliness because aside its benefit to our health, from the stats stated above, it can be beneficial to the economy.

It is not all gloomy on this crucial issue as the Federal government is working towards ensuring Sustainable Development Goal 6 and eliminating inequalities in the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) sector. How? You ask. Here are the ways.

Firstly, The Partnership for Expanded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) programme was formulated and launched in 2016 in direct response to the challenges affecting the rural WASH sector, with the aim of achieving 100% WASH coverage in rural areas.

Secondly, the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign was set up to end open defecation and it is a key initiative that will reach many unserved populations.

Thirdly, the federal government is encouraging sanitation financing mechanism, through the engagement of microfinance institutions, community-based savings and loan schemes, as well as a government pool fund, which are also being used to make loans available for households, especially the rural poor, to construct improved toilets.

Fourthly, a national Village Level Operation Maintenance (VLOM) strategy for managing water supply facilities in all rural communities in Nigeria has been launched. National guidelines are also being drafted by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to assist mainstream gender issues in WASH programming in the sector.

Fifth initiative by the Federal government is that, the WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping survey disaggregates national WASH data across regions, sub-sectors, and household wealth, gender, literacy and disabilities status, and also explores equity and dignity indicators, such as gender-separate toilets for privacy in public institutions and safety of water systems and toilets for children and people living with disabilities.

The general idea for this move by the Federal government is to get 47 million Nigerians to use the toilet and stop open defecation and increase access to improved sanitation, especially in rural communities.

What then can be done to sensitise communities on the importance of stopping the act of open defecation? According to Clean Nigeria initiative, there are three activities outlined as pre-triggering activities, triggering activities and post triggering activities. For the pre- triggering activities, the officials of Rural Water Supply And Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) and Local Government Area WASH Department, or the State Task on Sanitation (STGS) carry out an advocacy visit to sensitize and mobilize the support of political, traditional and religious leaders and community members. They seek their support in implementing a Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS).

For Triggering activities, during this phase, CLTS facilitators (LGAWASH/Local Partners and RUWASSA) engage community members to analyse their sanitation practices and see how open defecation threatens the community. The community members decide to take collective action to develop a Community Action Plan (CAP) to improve sanitation and end Open defecation.

For Post- triggering activities, the WASH department within the LGA areas and other local partners, follow up and monitor CAP. RUWASA provides support monitoring during this period. Also, when the community is able to curb the trend of OD, they declare themselves ODF (Open Defecation Free) and inform their Local Government Area (LGA).

Then the LGAs make four unannounced visits to verify their status, the LGA then forwards the list of the verified communities to the state agency so that the State Task Group on Sanitation (STGS) can award them official certification.

Then the STGS holds a meeting with RUWASSA and the LGA WASH department. This team also makes unannounced visits to verified communities. If the communities are truly Open Defecation Free, the STGS makes a recommendation to the LGA and the state government to officially declare the community ODF.

Next, the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) conducts a validation exercise on randomly selected 10% communities in the entire LGA. If the validation is 100percent, the NTGS team makes recommendation to the chairman, who informs the Minister of Water Resources. Finally, a certificate is then awarded by the Minister in an open ceremony.

Hard as it may sound, yet, Nigeria can be ODF. One organisation at the fore, assisting Nigeria to ensure they meet this target of ODF is UNICEF, whose priorities are to eliminate Open Defecation by 2025, bring water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to disadvantaged communities in rural areas, improve access to safe water and sanitation in schools and healthcare facilities. They also are engaging communities and the general populace on sanitation and hygiene promotion and awareness creation.

They are doing this by providing WASH services and infrastructure development in rural communities, schools, and healthcare facilities. They are also supporting the OD eradication campaign led by the Nigerian Government.

Furthermore, UNICEF is supporting sanitation demand creation through community approaches, sanitation marketing and financing, and also hygiene promotion strategies.

With strong political commitment at the sub-national level, advocacy and awareness-raising on Nigeria’s WASH challenges, increased and well-targeted WASH funding at all level and increased private sector engagement in the WASH sector, UNICEF will be able to do more in sensitising Nigerians on the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene as they continually help to sensitise the citizenry on the importance of being ODF and the possibility of achieving that status on or before 2025.